‘The Walking Dead’ Producers Planned “Milestones” Through Season 12

The ever-increasing popularity of AMC's 'The Walking Dead' mandates that we'll have a few more seasons beyond the upcoming fifth to carry on the undead apocalypse, spinoff or no, but how long could the Robert Kirkman-adapted series really run? New producer comments suggest that Rick might be fighting the walkers well into a 12th season, with plenty of stories plotted out to match.

Where previously we heard executive producer and showrunner Scott Gimple telling Larry King that the series might have 10 seasons of life to it, fellow executive producer David Alpert recently shared over a Producer's Guild of America panel that bullet points have been mapped out even further.

I happen to love working from source material, specifically because we have a pretty good idea of what season 10 is gonna be. We know where season 11 and 12 ... we have benchmarks and milestones for those seasons if we're lucky enough to get there.

Of course, producer hopes for an additional seven seasons are no guarantee 'The Walking Dead' will actually last that long, as we've seen plenty of mega-hit TV series lose their luster over a few too many repetitive years. The comics would at least support a 12-season run, as the current issues served up plenty of storylines in between the present and AMC's rough placement within the canon, which itself is open to remix. Not to mention, with 'Halt and Catch Fire' representing the latest fizzle of AMC's post-'Breaking Bad' and 'Mad Men' dramas, the network may well keep the dead walking through 2021.

Well, what do you think? Could 'The Walking Dead' really maintain its quality through a 12th season or beyond? Would AMC's version prove as compelling to kill off and add characters over the years, like the comic? Tell us what you want to see from future seasons of 'The Walking Dead' in the comments!